Parentibus - July 2015 Issue

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Parentibus The official newsletter of Personal Formation Office of PAREF-Northfield School for Boys

ISSUE 02

SY 2015-2016

First PGA: Raising Millenials PAREF Northfield held its First Parent’s General Assembly at the University of Asia and the Pacific last July 4, with more than 165 parents in attendance. Mr. Emmanuel Sator, the Executive Director, opened the program by discussing key developments for the school year: the school’s new management team as well as key academic changes on account of K+12: a new grading system and the school’s Senior High School program.

The highlight of the Assembly, however, were Tiburcio and Vangie Evalle,

EDUCHILD’s Vice President Couple and long-time parenting and family advocates, who talked to the Northfield parents about their colorful experiences as spouses and parents.

Their talk, aptly called “When Generation X raises Millenials” was punctuated with tongue-in-cheek anecdotes about their earnest attempts to bridge the generation gap between them and their children. While the parents enjoyed the humorous personal stories they shared, the Evalles nevertheless drove home a serious message on the 4

NPEP SESSION I. New Northfield parents attended the First Session of the New Parents Education Program (NPEP) last July 11. Twenty-seven out of an expected 35 new Northfield parent-couples were present at the half-day session, which concluded with two parallel plenary sessions moderated by two EDUCHILD parenting experts, Mr. Oscar Cadiente and Ms. Arline Hernandez.

July 2015 Parentibus

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Parentibus

Gen Y need to learn to switch off This morning’s Sydney Morning Herald and my peers. Take something as simple as published an article called “Generation watching television – the urge to be scanOverstimulation? Generation Y’s addic- ning my Facebook feed, doing my nails and tion to being busy,” and just from the title, I having a cuppa at the same time can be could already see that it has a point. overwhelming. I find it an actual effort to The article suggests that Gen Y-ers are ad- just focus on the show and leave it at that. dicted to having too much to do. Their life- Even when supposedly relaxing, say lying styles are all about overstimulation: juggling on the beach or actually getting into bed at the multiple components of their lives with a decent hour, we’re more likely to scroll hardly a moment of silence or downtime. through Instagram (keeping our brains And while this seems to be leading to high- overloaded with information) than just soak er levels of stress, being less busy would in our surrounds or let our mind be alone also lead to anxiety – but more the stress of with its thoughts. feeling inadequate and like they’re slipping behind as Live in the present What’s right and what’s compared to their peers. moment as much as wrong in this culture of over-busyness? As with possible.

So what are the statistics? most things, I think the 49 per cent of young people report high lev- key is balance. Our society is overstimuels of stress, over 80 per cent are aware that lated – there’s something to entertain us all their physical health suffers, and more than the time. We’re not so great at stopping to 70 per cent know that their social and per- smell the roses, and if we are, we’re probasonal time, as well as emotional or mental bly Snapchatting it to all of our friends and state, is bearing the brunt. waiting for their responses.

I describe it in the third person but as Gen Y, I can definitely see this trend in myself

July 2015 Parentibus

Here’s the thing: I think that being busy is a good thing. I am definitely one of those

3 people that enjoys being busy, despite the fact that I have colleagues who tell me off for having something on every night of the week, and pretty packed weekends (for me though, being busy was a habit learned – as someone who tends toward laziness, if I wasn’t busy, there’s a high chance that I’d be in my pajamas all day, watching episode after episode of some brain-cell-wasting show). And I figure, isn’t it better to be filling life up with enriching activities and great people, rather than sitting it out on the couch?

• Know your limits. When every day is a grumpy one and all you want to do is sleep, there’s a high chance that your run of being busy is calling for a break. Learn to recognize this and slow down, or keep energized with more exercise, more sleep and nutritious food.

PHOTO COURTESY OF VIDETTEONLINE.COM

Basically, I think there’s a good kind of busy – a happy medium between bored and hectic, that Gen Y-ers would do well to strive for. I think it is possible to live a busy life and not get stressed! Here are my three pointers:

• Leave a little room for silence. It’s an amazing world that we live in, but it is one where we have constant access to new information and entertainment. This means a lot less time for silence, which is really the only way to be alone with your thoughts and pause for self-reflection – which is what we need to know ourselves better and grow as a person.

• Live in the present moment as much as possible. For example, focus on that friend that you’re catching up with, rather than checking your emails at the same time.

Obviously there are moments where multi vtasking is the efficient thing to do, but I think that giving your attention to one thing at a time will leave you a lot calmer.

Source: Gen Y need to learn to switch off TAMARA RAJAKARIAR June 29, 2015 for more, please visit: http://www.mercatornet.com/family_edge/view/gen-yneed-to-learn-to-switch-off/16425

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Parentibus SCAPULAR ENROLLMENT. 57 Northfield students attended a solemn rite on the Enrollment of the Brown Scapular in the Northfield Oratory last July 16 on the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Fr. Rafael Martin (left) blessed the scapulars and presided over the brief ceremony after the noon mass.

Bluroze and Laguna Hills Welcome Northfield Grade 7, 8 and 9 students spent three days at Bluroze Farms Parks and Wildlife on their yearly Student Seminar last July 14-16. Accompanied by their class advisers, teachers and PF staff, the students attended talks and formative activities throughout the three-day activity, with team sports and Filipino games in between. SEB Finance Officer and Grade 7 student Lucas Bonifacio described the seminar as a fun-filled learning experience.

Year V students also attended their own Student Seminar at the Laguna Hills Study Camp from July 6 to 8. As this was their last seminar as Northfield students, the three days of talks, spiritual exercises and sports took on a decidedly more serious and wistful tone for the graduating seniors. Nevertheless, Year V student David Lee said he found it worthwhile, with more relevant activities and topics compared to past seminars he attended. He added: “Even though there were fewer activities, and that silence was greatly encouraged, I think the seminar was perfect.”

1 need for parents to engaging more with their children in order to bridge the digitial and cultural divide made more urgent by today’s rapidly-evolving culture.

In order to succeed in connecting with their children, the Evalles emphasized

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the need for strengthening harmony between spouses, spending both quality and quantity time with one’s children as well as a more deliberate effort to raise them into responsible Christian adults.

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